Issue 72

H. Sundarasetty et alii, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 72 (2025) 211-224; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.72.15

     

      





 V E E

f

f

m

   m

(2)

E E 1

c

   1 V



f

E

E

 

 

m

f

3V

f

c m E,E and

f E denotes moduli of composite, matrix, and filler

The symbols adopted in Eqn. 2, are represented as

respectively.

f V represents the volume fraction of filler material.

Fabrication of Composite samples To fabricate the composite samples, the PLA matrix reinforced with BNNP filler was used at various weight percentages (wt%) 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04. The detailed steps adopted for the PLA/BNNP composite sample fabrication process are described in Fig. 2. The process used the melt mixing method to fabricate the PLA/BNNP composites, according to Jose et al. [18]. Initially, in a glass beaker, the weight of the BNNP filler was determined by a Weighing balance (Shimadzu ATX-224, Shimadzu Co., Japan) and then ethanol was added at a 1:20 ratio. An ultrasonicate bath sonicator operator (SM-100-US, Samarth Electronics, India) dispersed the filler in the ethanol until a uniform dispersion stage was reached. Next, the nanofluid was mixed with PLA granules using a hotplate operator (1-MLH, Remi Elektrotechnik Ltd., India) for uniform dispersion. After completely evaporating the ethanol, the composite was placed in a vacuum oven (GR 58, Nano Tec, India) for a whole day to remove moisture. After twenty-four hours, the composite mixture was collected to prepare the tensile and flexural samples. The mixture was then fed into the injection molding machine (semiautomated horizontal, Deesha Impex Pvt. Ltd, India) as per ASTM Standards.

Figure 2: Fabrication steps.

Tensile testing and flexural testing: A Universal Testing Machine (UTM) (H10KL, Tinius Olsen India Pvt. Ltd., India) was used for the tensile tests as per ASTM D638. The samples were uniformly loaded at a 2 mm/min strain rate under typical atmospheric circumstances. Similarly, flexural testing was carried out by ASTM D790 using the same UTM equipment. The flexural test was performed under atmospheric circumstances and at a 2 mm/min flexural strain rate. All samples underwent five tests, and the average value was noted.

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